Police lathi-charge and foil BNP demonstration in city

The short-lived demonstration of the BNP near the Baitul Mukarram Mosque on Monday – UNB

Dhaka, April 23 – Police on Monday foiled a demonstration organized by Dhaka (South) unit of the BNP in front of the north gate of Baitul Mukarram.Police dispersed the rally within five minutes of the party started the procession at 1:50pm towards Dainik Bangla intersection.
As part of the scheduled programme, the party arranged the rally demanding the release of party chairperson Khaleda Zia, who is now serving her five years terms in jail in a graft case.
The party was supposed to hold the rally in front of Agranee Bank in Motijhell which has been shifted the venue to north gate of Baitul Mukarram as police took position there.
BNP leaders and activists thronged in front of the north gate of Baitul Mukarram from 1:30pm.
The party was taking a procession towards Dainik Bangla intersection and police halted it after it reached few yards.
Protesting the police move, the agitated BNP leaders and activists threw brickbats towards them and damaged a number of cars. Police also charged batons on them.
The law enforcers also picked up several party leaders and activists from the procession.
Meanwhile, the BNP on the day challenged the government to show Tarique Rahman’s Bangladeshi passport if he really surrendered his passport.
BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi threw the challenge at a press conference at party central office in the city.
Accusing the state minister for foreign affairs of telling lies, he said the ruling Awami League proved it as a centre of excellence for telling baseless, imaginary and frequent lies and he described the state minister for foreign affairs as a member of the centre.
Rizvi alleged that the AL literally gives training on how to tell a lie and what else can he (Shahriar) learn from the party.
He warned that the party may take legal action against the state minister for foreign affairs for his “falsehood”.
Referring to remark of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s niece and British MP Tulip Siddique, “I am not a Bangladeshi”, Rizvi said Tulip proudly loves to be a British national, not a Bangladeshi.
He claimed that most of children and relatives of the prime minister were staying abroad although she always speaks highly of Bangla and Bangladesh.
Rizvi said none from the Zia family got married with any foreigners or accepted foreign nationality.
Earlier, BNP’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman served a legal notice to the state minister for foreign affairs asking him to prove within next 10 days over the allegations that he (Tarique) has given up his Bangladeshi citizenship by submitting his passport.
He also sent the legal notice to the editors of vernacular dailies Kaler Kantho and Bangladesh Pratidin asking them to withdraw the news reports on the statement made by the state minister.
Barrister Kaiser Kamal served the notice on behalf of Tarique Rahman following state minister for foreign affairs Shahriar Alam claimed that the BNP’s exiled acting chairman Tarique Rahman relinquished his Bangladeshi nationality.
Speaking at a reception hosted by the UK Awami League in honour of prime minister Sheikh Hasina in London, Shahriar claimed that Tarique, living in London, gave up his nationality by handing over his Bangladesh passport to the UK Home Office almost four years ago.
In the legal notice, the BNP acting chairman, now living in London, also asked the state minister and the editors to offer an unconditional apology to him for making the statement and publishing the report on the statement.
State Minister Shahriar in reply defended his statement saying that the Home Office of UK government has several years ago submitted the passport of Tarique Rahman and his wife to the Bangladesh High Commission in London. Staff Reporter